


See You In The Stars

by bep_bop



Series: Newsies Oneshots (Mostly Ralbert) [23]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gone too soon, M/M, N E WAYS, Sad with a Happy Ending, also race is sick, like rlly sick, race has cystic fibrosis, rip my guy, space au baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 03:13:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29993004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bep_bop/pseuds/bep_bop
Summary: Race had been sick for a long time. His whole life to be exact. He had cystic fibrosis, but he also had a passion for the stars and everything out of this world. He always told Albert he'd see the stars in person, and Albert was determined to take him there.
Relationships: Albert DaSilva/Racetrack Higgins
Series: Newsies Oneshots (Mostly Ralbert) [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1982263
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	See You In The Stars

**Author's Note:**

> this was named "angts" in the drafts, just thought you should know.

It's not like anything could have saved Race in the first place. He was sick. Really, really sick. He’d been sick for as long as Albert had known him, he always tried to put on a brave face for the world, but deep down he knew that everything was crumbling around him.

Albert knew the beginning of the end had begun in freshman year when Race had gotten confined to a hospital room. It was heartbreaking watching this boy who carried so much life getting confined to a small room he wasn’t allowed to leave. Race had Cystic Fibrosis. He never let the disease define him, but it became difficult when confined to the room.

No matter the conditions though, Albert always visited Race without fail. They were best friends and Race could always use some company. They would play card games and have some laughs. They would talk about things on the news, they’d do origami and more often than not, they’d talk about the stars.

The stars were always a favorite for Race, he was always prepared to infodump.

_ “You see those stars Albie?”  _ Race would ask.  _ “One day I’m gonna be up there, seeing them in person. Wouldn’t that be so cool!? I could be the first person with CF to be up there!”  _

Now Race wasn’t dumb. He knew he wasn’t going to get better, he knew he’d never see the stars in person. But he’d always talk about it, his mindset was that if he distracted himself, he could almost reach his dreams.

Now Albert never usually said anything when Race was ranting, it was the polite thing to do. But he was determined to get Race to the stars one way or another. There was no way that he was gonna let his best friend miss out on his dream.

Sometimes he would visit and Race would be examining star charts, on those days he would walk in and just sit quietly. Star chart days were Race’s bad days. Race never denied Albert’s company, but on star chart days, there would be no conversation involved. Whether it was because he got bad news, wasn’t feeling well or was just down in the dumps, he wouldn’t talk. Albert respected Race’s privacy and wouldn’t try to spark up conversation. Sometimes though, Race would start to feel a bit better and he’d call Albert over to the bed and explain the charts for the millionth time.

So when Race passed during the summer between Sophomore and Junior year, Albert knew what he was going to be doing for the rest of his life. You might think he’d dedicate his life to trying to cure Cystic Fibrosis. But that wasn’t what Albert wanted to do. He wanted to go to space. He knew Race wouldn’t be able to join him, but he was determined to get out there. A lot of people thought that Albert didn’t have the requirements, but when you spend years of your life with Racetrack Higgins, you’re gonna know a thing or two about being an astronaut.

Albert would spend  _ hours  _ each day doing research on how to become an astronaut. There was nothing that was going to stop him from getting to the stars. At night over the summers, he would spend days out in the middle of nowhere just mapping the stars and researching them. He needed to know everything, he needed to know about the inner workings of NASA, the star patterns and everything in between. His friends would tease him and call him crazy, but that only encouraged him more.

_ “See you in the stars Albie!” Race called, a weak smile on his face. He knew he was going to die soon. He knew he didn’t have a lot of time left. He could feel himself slipping away as each second passed. He didn’t want Albert to watch him die. Albert’s last memory with him should be happy, not traumatizing and depressing. _

Albert watched as the world around him became smaller and smaller, he watched as the stars got closer and closer, he watched as Race’s dream finally came true. With a little bit of convincing, he had gotten permission to bring Race’s ashes to space on his first adventure. Albert thought of Race’s unwavering smile as he left the ship and let Race into his final resting place in the stars.


End file.
